Seems like everyone is taking potshots at Johnny Manziel these days, as every move by last year’s Heisman Trophy winner gets put under the microscope. My take: Sure, he’s being a bit of a knucklehead, but let’s have some perspective here, folks. Based on what people are saying about him, you’d think he was an axe murderer or something. The commentary over his antics this past Saturday has been a bit much.
One person who isn’t joining in the dogpile is none other than the quarterback of the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens, Joe Flacco.
“Being hated is not a bad thing ... I don’t know if I’ll be too popular after [saying] this: I [didn’t] know how I really felt about Johnny Manziel,” Flacco told Jim Corbett of USA Today. “But I feel like now that everybody hates him, he’s quickly becoming my favorite player in college football.”
Good for Flacco to take a contrarian stand. But does everyone really hate Manziel, though? For all the consternation over his actions, the media can’t stop talking about him. Johnny Football gets page views and TV ratings and allows talking heads to make dramatic statements about his future. In other words, they really love him. Or, they love that they get to hate him. Either way, they need him more than he needs them. It appears that he realizes it, too.
And, perhaps, that’s the one thing they really hate.